Peter Harrison: The Shifting Territories of Science & Religion

Discussions of science and religion typically assume it is a relatively simple matter to establish clear boundaries for what counts as science and what counts as religion. Indeed, the idea that we can meaningfully discuss this relationship at all—whether it is conceived in positive or negative terms—relies to a large extent on our capacity to demarcate science and religion from other activities. In this lecture I suggest that the concepts “religion” and “science” are essentially modern inventions that often fail to capture the essence of the activities as they are conducted in practice.

Peter Harrison is an Australian Laureate Fellow and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Queensland. Former Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford, he is author of numerous publications including, most recently, The Territories of Science and Religion (Chicago, 2015), based on his 2011 Gifford Lectures.

Dr. Harrison will be teaching the class “Religion and the Rise of Science” from May 13–17, 2019 as part of our 2019 Summer Programs. Learn more at rgnt.net/summer.